Many orthopedic conditions are named after an activity, such as runner’s knee, pitcher’s shoulder, and tennis elbow. When it comes to this last one, statistics show that tennis players are far from the only ones who develop elbow pain due to lateral epicondylitis, the medical term for tennis elbow.
By the numbers, about half of tennis players develop tennis elbow at some point, but they comprise only 5% of the overall burden. So, who is filling up the other 95% of tennis elbow stats?
For this answer, we turn to board-certified orthopaedic surgeon Dr. William Schell, who counts elbows among his areas of expertise. In the following, we explore tennis elbow — who gets it, the type of elbow pain in which this condition can result, and what we can do to bring you relief.
Your elbows feature bony prominences along the sides and bottom called epicondyles. These bumps act as anchors for your forearm muscles and tendons, and with tennis elbow, there’s an issue with your lateral epicondyle, which is located on the outside of your elbow.
More specifically, tennis elbow involves the extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) tendon and muscle, which stabilize your wrist when your arm is straight.
So, if you engage in any activity that places pressure on the forearm muscles and involves repetitive extension of your hand and wrist, it can lead to tiny tears and inflammation in the tissues, which are the hallmarks of tennis elbow.
Tennis players are more vulnerable to tennis elbow because they place their arms in a straight position when swinging the racket, which stresses the forearm muscles and tendons.
Outside of tennis and other racket sports, lateral epicondylitis also routinely affects:
There are also lifestyle factors that can place you more at risk for tennis elbow, such as smoking and being obese.
Since lateral epicondylitis is an overuse injury and not an acute one, symptoms typically develop gradually. At first, you might feel some pain on the outside of your elbow when you’re using the joint.
Over time, this pain can become more constant, and you might experience nagging nighttime pain, as well as stiffness and weakness in your elbow. Additionally, your grip might become weaker.
The good news is that 80-95% of tennis elbow cases can be resolved without surgery. Conservative treatments for this common condition include:
If these efforts don’t bring you any relief from your elbow pain, we can get more aggressive with sound wave therapy.
If your tennis elbow symptoms persist for 6-12 months or more, then it might be time to discuss surgery. To address tennis elbow surgically, Dr. Schell removes the damaged part of the tendon and reattaches healthier connective tissue to your bone.
Let’s walk this back a bit and recommend a good first step. Schedule an evaluation of your elbow pain with Dr Schell. To set that in motion, simply contact us at our office on Columbus Circle on the Upper West Side by calling 646-381-2646. You can also contact us by clicking here.
